Those Darned Love Triangles
by Kylink
Summary: Shulk and Robin have been close friends since the day they met at the Tournaments. But when Shulk reveals his hidden crush for their other friend Lucina, Robin is going to have to find some way to keep his jealousy in tact. (COMPLETE?)


Robin considered Shulk a friend, if not a very close acquaintance. At first he was a little reluctant, thinking it would be strange or maybe even detrimental to form a bond with someone from a completely different universe; but the more they interacted, the more they found out just how much they had in common: sticking up for their friends, defying their doomed destinies, and most importantly, believing that Fate could be changed. Over the course of the tournaments, the two had become quite close, to the point where they could be considered "bros" as Ness had coined it. They hung out, ate, and trained together all the time, with Lucina usually thrown into the mix. Lucina joined their ranks when Robin introduced Shulk to her, and ever since then the three were pretty tight and were always enjoying spending time with each other…so it was no wonder that over time one would eventually fall for the other…

It started at dinner. Robin was advised by one of the veteran Smashers to head to the cafeteria as soon as he was able to because it was pizza night. But this wasn't the easy-way-out pizza that you would order at a fast food restaurant; this pizza was hand-made with ingredients that could not have been possible without the talent and effort of some of the smashers. Basically…it was pretty legit-tasting pizza. And everyone- seriously, EVERYONE- pretty much brawled over as many slices they could get. Yoshi and Kirby were usually the ones who ended up eating most of it, leaving a few measly slices left for the others. When he had heard this, Robin made it a priority to make it to dinner at least an hour and a half early. As misfortune would have it, he arrived too early. Mario had barely put the first pie in the oven to bake. The tactician sighed as he pulled out a tome. Next time it was pizza night, he'd make sure to not come too early. At least he had a table saved for Shulk and Lucina. Speaking of, he hadn't seen the two all day. Strange, considering that he always had one or both of them by his side. Not thinking too much of it, Robin began to brush up on his magic for the next match. About an hour had passed, and Robin could smell the wondrous scent coming from the kitchen, making his mouth water. He had never had pizza, much less heard of it, as it didn't exist in his timeline. But that enticing aroma was making him hungry, and he was sure the pizza was going to taste as good as it smelled. Already, the Smashers began filing in and getting situated at tables, so Robin decided to put his tome away.

"Hey, Robin."

Robin turned and saw Shulk sliding into the seat next to him.

"Hey. Where've you been all day? I haven't seen you since this morning."

"I had a match this afternoon so Lucina was helping me practice for it. By the way, I didn't see you at the Stadium."

"That's because I was looking around the Mansion for you, you idiot!" Robin laughed as he playfully nudged his friend's shoulder, though deep down he felt the tiniest sense of weirdness from hearing that Shulk was with Lucina. Shulk on the other hand chuckled as he pretended to shove Robin out of his seat. A small wrestling match was threatening to ensue.

"I won my fight. I bet I could win another if you tried me." Shulk grinned.

Robin merely shook his head. "I could take you any day."

"Am I interrupting something?"

Robin and Shulk stopped their childish antics when they saw Lucina sitting next to them. She had an amused look on her face.

"Oh no, please. Go on." She said, smiling. "You two sort out your differences. Though I'm warning you, Robin. Shulk was on fire in the arena today."

"I was up against Bowser…" Shulk muttered as he glanced down.

"…I meant that you were fighting extremely well."

"Oh…Oh!"

Robin shook his head and laughed, even though he still had that weird feeling in him. In fact, it felt like it was growing after what Lucina said about Shulk; she never once said that about him...

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard a whistle. Mario was in front of the buffet tables, where multiple pizza pies were lined up on top.

"Dinner is-a ready." He quickly said before darting out of the way of certain doom.

Like a stampede, the Smashers raced to the buffet, trying to take as many slices as they could before getting wrapped up into too much trouble. The three watched in horror at the chaos unfolding right in front of them. No doubt, there would be multiple visits to Dr. Mario tonight.

"Well…" Shulk gulped. "We should try to fight our way through before they run out…"

"Yeah…" Lucina looked unsure. She'd never seen this sort of mob before.

Robin looked like he didn't want to, but he waited an hour and a half for this and was even taunted by the smell of the pizza cooking beforehand. He was not about to let that go to waste. After thinking from a strategist's point of view, he quickly rushed in from the right and the moment he saw an opening, he snagged an entire tray of pepperoni pizza and hurried back to his table.

"Animals…" He panted, but was nevertheless relieved he didn't have to go through that again.

"Good job, Robin!" Shulk high fived him.

"Thanks, Robin! You're the best." Lucina clapped him on the back before taking a couple slices for herself.

Robin finally caught his breath and grabbed a slice. He examined it for a bit before taking a cautious bite. The perfect combination of melted cheese and spiced pepperoni set his taste buds on fire, and before he knew it, he had devoured the whole thing and another one within seconds and was now reaching for his third. As he tore into his slice, he noticed that Shulk and Lucina weren't eating their pizza with similar fervor even though this was their first time ever trying something so godly. In fact, they seemed completely disinterested in it. What they did seem interested in was each other, as they stared longingly and somewhat dreamily into each other's eyes. They were even chuckling, as if they were sharing some funny joke telepathically. Robin stopped eating as that weird feeling from before turned into something of dread. He suddenly didn't feel like eating a fourth slice.

"HAH!" Lucina suddenly shouted out, which caused both Robin and Shulk to jump in surprise.

The two looked at the swordswoman curiously as she laughed, "You blinked. I win."

Shulk rolled his eyes. "No fair. You caught me off guard."

Lucina merely stuck her tongue out as she got up from the table. "I have to go now. I promised Marth I'd meet up with him after dinner so he could teach me some of his techniques. I'll see you later."

"Bye, Lucina." Robin waved, feeling some sort of relief. _It's okay, they were just having a staring contest._

The relieved feeling didn't last long, for he noticed how Shulk's gaze lingered onto Lucina even after she turned and left. He looked to be in some kind of fantasy, and Robin really didn't want to know what was going on in it. With a little more force than he was intending, he kicked his friend's legs to get him back to reality.

"Ow!" He complained.

"I don't think you can have a staring contest with her back, Shulk." Robin remarked snidely, trying to hide the small bite in his voice.

Shulk just shook his head as he resumed eating his pizza. The two friends ate in silence, which for Robin was kind of awkward since Shulk was usually more talkative, but right now it seemed his mind was elsewhere, like he was in a daze. Suddenly, the blonde-haired man stopped eating.

"Robin," He said. "You're my friend, right? And…I can talk to you about anything without you judging me, right?"

"Right…" Robin responded, not really liking where this was going.

"Then…can I tell you a secret?" When Robin nodded, Shulk continued, a light blush coming to his face as he played with his hands nervously. "I…I kind of…have a crush on Lucina…"

Robin nearly dropped his pizza slice. Of course, he was expecting that. He had seen the two interact before this, and gradually Robin felt as though he was becoming a third wheel, even though the two weren't dating. And what was worse, Lucina seemed to be completely accepting towards Shulk's innocent advances. But the most difficult part, the worst thing about this whole situation, was that Robin also had feelings for Lucina. Some bit of him had wanted to alert Shulk of this, but after seeing the way the two interacted, it had been obvious Shulk felt the same way towards her, and that would only create problems in their friendship. But now…this was happening. Shulk had confirmed his worst suspicions. For once, the young tactician didn't know what to do.

Robin, doing his best to contain his shock, replied in a low voice, "Do you now?"

"Yes." Shulk sighed. "I don't know when it happened or how long I've been feeling this way…but when you first introduced us, it felt like my heart skipped a beat."

_Of course it did. _Robin resisted the urge to roll his eyes at his friend's melodramatic behavior. "But what about Fiora?"

"I do like her, but...not that way. We've been friends since we were little and I'd rather it stay like that."

"But why Lucina?"

"Well…she's really an amazing woman. She's smart, she's cunning, she's strong physically and emotionally, she and I both have the same views on Fate. She's also very beautiful…"

"Okay, I get it." Robin, somewhat curtly, cut him off. "So…what do you plan to do about it?"

Shulk glanced at Robin hopefully. "I can tell you guys are close friends, since you came from the same world and all. I was wondering if you could give me advice…like how to go about this. Would she feel weird if I suddenly asked to hang out with her by ourselves? Or should I just continue to train with her? I don't want her to…what did Ness say…'friendzone' me. But I don't want to make her feel awkward by imposing myself on her. Please help me, Robin."

At this point, Robin realized just how serious and determined Shulk was in pursuing a relationship with Lucina. He could just give him bogus advice that would put Lucina off and send her running to his own arms for safety…

No. Shulk was his friend. And as much as he tried not to notice it, Lucina seemed happiest when she could spend time with just him. He could see it in their daily interactions whenever they hung out, the closeness they shared. It would hurt, but Robin would give him the right advice and support him all the way. If it meant sacrificing his own happiness for theirs, then he would do it. Because…that's just the kind of person he was.

He gave Shulk a run-down on everything he knew about Lucina: her interests, her hobbies, her distastes, her personality, favorite color, everything. Shulk listened attentively as he mentally took note of all of this. He started to get some ideas on how to get closer to Lucina after Robin was finished explaining everything.

"Thanks, Robin. You're the greatest friend I could ask for here." Shulk thanked him once they were done. He patted his back and ruffled his hair affectionately before leaving, most likely to wait for Lucina to finish her training with Marth, leaving the white-haired man all alone in the now empty cafeteria.

Robin sighed to himself, a combination of defeat and something else welling up within him, making him sick to his stomach. Suddenly, that pizza didn't seem as delicious as it did two hours ago. No matter how hard he tried to convince himself that he was happy for his friend finding someone he could be compatible with, he couldn't quite get rid of that one feeling that was causing a throbbing sensation in his chest. Robin knew what it was, and it certainly wasn't heartburn. He always did his best to keep his emotions in check, trying to smother the negative ones so he could focus on the positive. Even still, Robin was human, and he couldn't deny that what he was feeling now was a natural response that anyone in his situation would feel. He was jealous. After all, he fought by Lucina's side through many battles. Before Shulk, she would come to him for help or just to talk. They entered this competition and got accepted together. Not to mention, he was with her since she was a baby. He had known her longer than Shulk ever could.

"It's not fair." He muttered.

* * *

><p><strong>I haven't played Xenoblade because my wii don't work...so I watched playthroughs of it to get an idea on Shulk's character. Still might be OOC though. Thanks for reading<strong>


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